Queen Elizabeth has died at the age of 96.

William’s Coat of Arms is so detailed (and expansive). If anyone can interpret it (before I can), please feel free.

(Is that German?)

Ok, yes. Ich dien = I serve.

Here is a bit more:

The Three Feathers, commonly known as the Prince of Wales's feathers is the dexter heraldic badge of the Prince of Wales. It consists of three white ostrich feathers encircled by a gold coronet with a ribbon below bearing the German motto "Ich dien". Wikipedia
Motto: German: Ich dien (I serve)
Armiger: William, Prince of Wales
Blazon: A plume of three ostrich feathers argent enfiled by a royal coronet of alternate crosses and fleur-de-lys or

I'm currently reading a book about the Black Prince.

It dates the ostrich feather to the death of the King of Bohemia at the Battle of Crecy.

A quotation from John Arderne, a man who may have been the prince's doctor, says as muc

"Edward the eldest son of Edward the king of England bore a similar feather above his helmet, and he obtained the feather from the king of Bohemia, whom he killed in Cresse in France. And so he assumed the feather which is called 'ostrich feather' which that most noble king used to carry above his helmet."

There is an argument that the motto ich dene also came from the Bohemian king, the 1352 poem Winner and Waster also makes the association.

Her death has reignited debate about colonialism and the monarchy.

Antigua and Barbuda will be holding a republican referendum in the next three years.

Many African academics have been highly critical, one pointed out that within days of being told she was queen at Treetops in Kenya, British troops started putting down the Mau Mau rebellion in Kenya.

It’s hard to avoid the weird Markle v Crown team Olympics being fought out on Facebook and Twitter. Two points of interest raging currently are M’s uninvite to Balmoral and the awkwardness between M and K during the walkabout yesterday.

1. News reports (we should take with a grain of salt) claim KCIII told H not to bring M to Balmoral after their PR people said they were both on their way. Their plans changed. I think this happened based on the change of plans. I also think K was asked to stay back, so that asking M not to attend couldn’t be lent to more nefarious gossip later.

2. So, that walkabout seemed so awkward when you watch M. As the four walk seemingly abreast of one another, you see them all look toward M as they are about to turn toward her to view floral tributes. Some people speculate M had said something that attracted W, K, H’s attention. Looking closer, it seems that
M is walking a bit ahead of W, breaking protocol. H does take her arm to slow her down.

Later, W bends down to look more closely at notes written in tribute to his grandmother and M instantly stoops as well, seeming to race W into a stooping position. It seems odd. Is she doing this on purpose or due to nerves. H and K pause for a few seconds each time W makes some novel move, but M races to mimic it. The same thing happened as W waved to signal leaving. M’s hand shoots upward awkwardly, she lowers it, and shoots it back up.

I noticed K seemed unusually aloof toward M, and M seemed very off—either trying to contain a strong negative emotion or just significantly uncomfortable.

Also, notably, M receives flowers from an onlooker, staff offers to take it for her and as she turns to decline the offer, her facial expression seems irritated. Hard to imagine her response wasn’t unnecessarily rude, but I could be wrong. Eventually, another aide asked for the flowers and when M tried to keep them, quickly let her know that she must hand them over. I guess actresses are conditioned to use events and platforms for self-promotion, and protocol is designed to eliminate those types of opportunities.

I wonder who the effective, back-up aide was. (Going to find out)

I realize the little moves don’t have a lot of significance in the sturm and drang of daily life on this third rock from the sun, but I became interested, so there. Yesterday online was like some weird psychological experiment and I was in my white coat, standing on the other side of the two-way window, taking notes. People getting into furious arguments about this minutiae. The accusations were preposterous.

*Everything* seems so polarizing lately.

Thank you!

Probably the most admired woman in the world, she was gracious, dignified, funny with a wealth of knowledge.

R.I.P Queen Elizabeth with your precious husband Prince Philip.
God Bless you both.

"Ich dien*" appear on the reverse of the two pence coins that were issued between the years 1971 and 2008 as well.

The motto is spelt ich diene* on the tomb of the Black Prince, Edward Prince of Wales, at the time of his burial at Canterbury in 1376.

*For the first person, present, indicative, both forms ich diene/ich dien are possible.

In the poem Winner and Waster it's Ich Dene which is seen as low countries dialect.

There's also mention 9f the similarity to the Pope's title, servus servorum Dei, servant of the servants of God.

Old English is one of the West Germanic languages, and its closest relatives are Old Frisian and Old Saxon. (My family name Saxon origin - in older English use hinde is the female is a deer, like in High German hindin.)

Drake's ship was the golden hind, and there's a couple of pubs called the Hind, but Hart is more popular, especially White Hart.

It was the timing, I'd only just read it the day before which is why it was fresh in my mind.

Apparently the pearls surrounding the motto were ordered before the prince sailed to France, so before Crecy.

There's not a lot of sources for then, many are partisan and prone to exaggeration, which means evidence can be contradictory and experts often disagree.

Her husband, ******* around with her. Nice.

Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson will be looking after the Queen's corgis according to the BBC.

The article was accompanied by a cute picture of a four year old Andrew trying to persuade a reluctant corgi to leave a train, thus showing his long association with them.

I don't think it will work, Andrew won't be seen as a cuddly dog recue type, he'll be seen as a sex offender who used privilege to evade justice.

They've just given a nonce a load of puppies ffs.

It seems he has the most free time since he’s been relieved of his titles and associated responsibilities. A related article stated that he’d share the corgis with Ferguson, who still shares a residence with him. Didn’t know about that.

I guess to wind up news of the odd, their daughter Beatrice has been given a pretty posh royal appointment by KCIII—‘counselor’? Seems to equate to the position of senior royal?

It seems to me that she’s been promoted, so to speak, to replace H&M, until the Wales children are old enough to assume duties.

I wonder if H will be removed from the line of succession since he doesn’t live in Britain.

I understand he has renounced the royal privileges, but I don't think that would stop succession.

George I was living in Germany when he became king, and only visited Britain occasionally afterwards.

The main barrier to succession is his legitimacy, he would have to pass a DNA test, because of his striking resemblance to Major James Hewitt, Diana's lover.

Apparently Andrew and Sarah Ferguson have stayed on very good terms since the divorce.

The first minister of Wales, Mark Drakeford was not informed that William would be the new P.O.W. He found out when he heard it on the news.

Thanks for new information about George I!

The question about his parentage has been surprisingly public since the divorce. You have to wonder. Sometimes, I think he may favor his paternal grandfather, but Hewitt, yes too.

As long as he's not in a position to become king nothing will happen, we'll go on pretending not to notice, which is something we're very good at.

If William and his issue die then things will change. He would not be able to become king with that hanging over his head, there would be a public outcry.